No. 2-ranked Norwin girls soccer avenges WPIAL title game loss, defeats Penn-Trafford

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, September 24, 2018 | 10:27 PM

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Norwin had been gritting its collective teeth waiting for another shot at Penn-Trafford.

The Knights’ wired anticipation showed when the girls soccer rivals played their first Section 3-4A game of the season Monday night.

The defending PIAA champion Knights, denied the WPIAL title last year by the Warriors, set the offense to rapid fire and attacked from all angles. The aggressive play led to a result that carried with it vengeance and relief for Norwin — a 4-2 victory at drippy Warrior Stadium in Harrison City.

“The plan was to come out right from the first whistle to take it to the next level and utilize our strengths,” Norwin coach Lauren Karcher said. “Literally from the start to the finish the girls never let up … (last year) has been in the back of their minds. We start every season with goals, and you start small and work your way up. I think they checked one off their list tonight.”

Senior Kendyl Kranitz returned from an injury that cost her three games to score two goals for the No. 2-ranked Knights (7-1, 6-0).

“When the work pays off there is nothing better than that,” Kranitz said. “I worked so hard to come back for this game. I wasn’t going to miss it.”

Penn-Trafford (6-2, 5-1), which had won six straight games, all via shutout, allowed Norwin to control the tempo, as the victors outshot the Warriors, 19-9.

“They came out and played to win,” Penn-Trafford coach Jackie Bartko said. “We had a lot of mistakes and a lot of different things that we need to correct for the next game. They were bringing it to us, and we had a hard time figuring it out.”

Penn-Trafford beat Norwin, 1-0, last year to snap the Knights’ 47-game regular-season winning streak. Norwin was ranked No. 1 in the country at the time by Top Drawer Soccer. After the teams tied 0-0 in their second section match, the Warriors edged the Knights in the WPIAL championship, 2-1, in overtime.

After each team had a legit scoring chance stopped early, Morgan Sigut gave the Knights the early lead in the 11th minute as she drove to the net, one-on-one with a defender, and forced a tough shot into the net as Warriors goalkeeper Megan Giesey came way out to defend.

Seconds later, Penn-Trafford tied it. After getting tripped in the box, Valparaiso recruit Kylie Dugan was awarded a penalty kick.

She ripped a shot to the left of Knights’ keeper Liz Waszkiewicz to make it 1-1 in the 24th minute.

“We are very good at a certain type of play, and we just didn’t play that way tonight,” Bartko said. “That’s something we need to work on and be ready for next time.”

Norwin continued to pelt Giesey with shots and control possession, and a couple of aggressive chances proved rewarding. The ball slipped away from the standout keeper a few times.

After Giesey made a save, the ball got away from her and the Knights pounced as Paloma Swankler took a gentle touch pass in front from Emily Shaw and headed it home for a 2-1 Knights lead in the 27th minute.

The shots kept coming. Just seconds after Giesey cleared, Kranitz launched from 30 yards out and Giesey couldn’t catch up with the blast, and Norwin led 3-1.

“Having Kendyl back was clutch,” Karcher said. “She played her heart out back there. It was a game-changer.”

The teams had posted a combined nine straight shutouts and had outscored those opponents 66-0, so scoring was expected to be limited.

But the opposite occurred as the teams combined for more goals in a game against each other in at least 15 years. The four goals were the most scored in the rivalry since before 2003.

“I don’t think either side anticipated that many goals being scored,” Karcher said. “But the more shots you take, someone is going to get some in.”

Freshman Malia Kearns made it 3-2 in the 51st minute on a goal that was questioned by Norwin. A player ran into Waszkiewicz, but the keeper didn’t hold on to the ball, the refs said, so Kearns’ score counted.

But Norwin didn’t fret. It added an insurance score with 4:05 to go when Kranitz delivered on a 30-yard free kick that was tipped by Giesey.

Norwin has won the opening game of the series in four of the last five years.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Norwin, Penn-Trafford